October 2007

Vergogna Postale

October 31, 2007

Ci lamentiamo in molti del pessimo servizio delle poste italiane. In tutti questi anni, pensavo che stesse migliorando, e forse é cosi’, ma soltanto se contrastato con i propri livelli (ancora peggiori) di prima. Prendiamo in considerazione: Dagli USA quest’estate, ho dovuto spedire due pacchi: uno a mia figlia in India, l’altro a me stessa [...]

Read the full article →

Italy’s Postal Embarrassment

October 31, 2007

Complaints are common about the Italian postal service, but I thought things were getting better. And maybe they are, measured strictly against la posta’s own previous service levels, which have always been dire. But consider these events: I needed to mail two packages from the US this summer, one to Ross in India, one to [...]

Read the full article →

The Lawsuit Society

October 29, 2007

Americans seem to have a very legalistic approach to life – the polar opposite of Italians’ very relaxed attitudes towards the actual law, let alone life in general. Boarding the CalTrain to go back to San Francisco, I had no idea where to put my big suitcase. On the way down I had put it [...]

Read the full article →

Web Women Weekend

October 28, 2007

^ the finer points of CSS – Tara and Elena in my kitchen Increasingly frustrated with the low visibility of women in technology in Italy, back in June I and a few like-minded ladies hatched a plan to start doing something about it. The first step was to get together. So I invited them all [...]

Read the full article →

25 Years Online: Communicating on the Internet Since 1982

October 17, 2007

Note: This is a heavily revised version of an article that I originally wrote around 2001, now updated for this year’s “significant” anniversary. 25 years online seems like a milestone worth marking! I can say without hubris that I have a talent for communicating online. Which shouldn’t be surprising: I’ve been doing it for over [...]

Read the full article →

I Can’t See You!

October 17, 2007

Visiting an old high school friend in Colorado last spring, we discussed our rapid approach (or have we already arrived?) into middle age. “Did it come on fast with you?” “Yeah, it just seemed to happen overnight. All of a sudden, I can’t see!” I’ve been extremely nearsighted most of my life. Now, to my intense [...]

Read the full article →

Religious Belief vs. Health Care – Tolerating the Intolerable in Italy

October 10, 2007

Britain’s Telegraph carries an opinion piece titled If Muslim doctors are intolerant, let them go, according to which a few young Muslim medical trainees have been allowed to refuse to see female bodies or to treat alcohol-related problems, on religious grounds. Sainsbury’s, a UK grocery chain, allows its checkout staff to refuse to scan alcohol [...]

Read the full article →

Guests of Conti Sertoli Salis: Fine Food and Wine in Valtellina

October 8, 2007

Part 1: Lunch! Many moons ago, spurred by a question on Fodors.com, I wandered the Internets, looking up wineries in the nearby region of Valtellina. Several had sites, some gorgeously produced. Sertoli Salis particularly caught my eye because the site was so very beautiful, and I knew the wines to be good, but the English [...]

Read the full article →

Raising a Non-Believer

October 3, 2007

A reader has just written to me: “One was on an essay about “Religion as a Cause of Strife in the World” – you can bet she went to town on that!” this is a comment you wrote on Ross’ India Diary and i have always wanted to ask you why you believe that Ross [...]

Read the full article →

The Twitter Diaries: Sept 2007

October 1, 2007

2: just back online after a weekend in Taos. Nice. Lots of art, some of it good. I got myself a fabulous ring. 3: feeling quite sick this morning. Don’t know if it’s yesterday’s BBQ or last night’s email bomb from my mother more Ross: http://www.beginningwithi.com/Woodstock/rd070831.html 4: @lskrocki Duncan Retreat, B&B belonging to friend of [...]

Read the full article →